Beverage containers, such as soda cans and bottles are commonly displayed and sold individually at grocery stores, gas stations, drug stores and convenience stores. Typically, the beverage containers are manually loaded onto a display rack, shelving unit, or refrigeration display unit. Often, containers of the same type and same size are stored next to and behind each other in rows extending from the front of the shelf to the back of the shelf. The containers are usually arranged in an upright or vertical manner and are usually positioned in rows of like products on an inclined shelf such that the bottoms of the containers rest on the shelf. In these typical displays, the containers are loaded from the rear of the shelf and the containers slide forward on the shelf toward the front of the shelf.
Conventional displays for merchandising containers in an upright manner have certain drawbacks. For example, each display must have a considerable length in order to stock an adequate supply of containers. To stock an adequate supply of containers, the display must be as long as the cumulative diameters of the stocked containers. Additionally, typical displays include unused space above the containers to allow clearance between the containers and a shelf above the containers. Furthermore, vertically standing containers may topple when being loaded, when the container slides down the channel, or when the forward-most product is removed from the shelf. The toppling of one or more containers may block and prevent subsequent containers from being properly displayed and merchandised.
These and other known drawbacks and disadvantages with existing container display systems are overcome with the present invention.